System for autonomous operation of multiple hybrid unmanned aerial vehicles supported by recharging stations to perform services

ABSTRACT

An automated system and method for controlling a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is described. The system can include a receiver, a transmitter, and at least one processor in communication with a memory. The receiver receives first telemetric data from the plurality of UAVs. The transmitter is configured to transmit control data to the plurality of UAVs. The memory stores processor-issuable instructions to: substantially simultaneously determine a plurality of plans for each of the plurality of UAVs and for a predetermined time period based at least on the first telemetric data; and iteratively revise the plurality of plans.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of the earlier filing date of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/183,597, titled “System forAutonomous Operation of Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Supported byRecharging Stations to Perform Services,” filed on Jun. 23, 2015, andInternational Patent Application No.: PCT/US16/26152, titled “GroundMovement System Plugin for Vertical Take Off and Landing Unmanned AerialVehicles,” filed on Apr. 6, 2016, the entire contents of which arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

All patents, patent applications and publications cited herein arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety in order to morefully describe the state of the art as known to those skilled therein asof the date of the invention described herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

One or more embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate toUnmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or “drones”, and specifically to theautonomous control of UAVs.

BACKGROUND

UAVs are unmanned aircraft that can carry sensors, video cameras,communications equipment, or other payloads, and are typically remotelypiloted individually by an operator or controlled by an automatedsystem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments described herein include an automated system for controllinga plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The automated system caninclude a navigational system and/or a scheduling system. A navigationalsystem and a scheduling system can collectively be referred to as aplanning system. In some such embodiments, the system includes areceiver, a transmitter, and a processor in communication with a memory.The receiver receives a first telemetric data from the plurality ofUAVs, and the transmitter is configured to transmit control data to theplurality of UAVs. The processor-issuable instructions can includeinstructions to: substantially simultaneously determine a plurality ofplans (e.g., navigational, scheduling and/or other plans) for each ofthe plurality of UAVs based at least on the first telemetric data; anditeratively revise the plurality of plans. The plurality of plans caninclude an instruction for at least one of the UAVs of the plurality ofUAVs to travel to a recharging station. Recharging stations of thepresent disclosure can be passive devices or can be in wirelesscommunication with the automated system and/or one or more UAVs of theplurality of UAVs.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first telemetric data and theupdated telemetric data includes position data and/or battery chargedata.

In some embodiments, iteratively revising the plurality of plans isbased on updated telemetric data received, via the receiver, from theplurality of UAVs.

At least one UAV of the plurality of UAVs can be an unmanned groundaerial vehicle (UGAV) comprising wheels for ground movement (which mayalso be referred to as a “hybrid” UAV), and the control data transmittedto the at least one UAV (i.e., to the UGAV) can comprise both flightnavigation data and ground navigation data.

In some embodiments, the plans for each of the plurality of UAVs can becoordinated so as to at least one of: avoid collisions between UAVs ofthe plurality of UAVs; avoid collisions between UAVs and other objectsor regions specified on a geographical navigation model; avoidinteraction of the UAVs with events specified on a temporal model;synchronize the planned movements of the UAVs and the activation oftheir sensors in order to guarantee continuance of data acquisition of aparticular region or event for an arbitrarily long amount of time;ensure that the plans for the UAVs allows the data acquisition specifiedas objective of the plan; and ensure that each UAV of the plurality ofUAVs maintains a battery charge that is above a predetermined level,which could be different for each UAV.

In some embodiments, the plans can be coordinated to ensure that atleast one UAV is present in each of a predetermined plurality ofgeographic zones.

In some embodiments, the plans can be coordinated to ensure that no morethan one UAV is present in each of a predetermined plurality ofgeographic zones.

In some embodiments, the updated telemetric data received from theplurality of UAVs can include a UAV fault notification.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first telemetric data and theupdated telemetric data can include meteorological data.

In some embodiments, the updated telemetric data can include triggerevent data.

In some embodiments, the control data can include at least one of:ground navigation data, flight navigation data, data acquisition data,communication data, take-off data, landing data, docking data andrecharging data.

In some embodiments, the plans are coordinated so as to runsubstantially concurrently with one another.

In some embodiments, a method of controlling a plurality of unmannedaerial vehicles (UAVs) includes: (1) substantially simultaneouslydetermining a plurality of plans for each of the plurality of UAVs basedat least on the first telemetric data; and, subsequently, (2)iteratively revising the plurality of plans. Iteratively revising theplurality of plans can be performed at predetermined time intervals(e.g., at pre-specified times of day) and/or can be based on a decisionmade by a configured software program.

In some embodiments, the scheduling system includes a receiver, atransmitter, and a processor in communication with a memory. Thereceiver and/or transmitter might be the same in the scheduling systemand/or the navigation system. The receiver can receive a firsttelemetric data from one or more external devices (e.g., UAVs), and thetransmitter is configured to transmit control data to the externaldevices. The memory can include processor-issuable instructions to:substantially simultaneously determine a plurality of actions for thedevices installed in each of a plurality of UAVs or in other pre-definedconnected receivers that are not necessarily installed on UAVs (e.g.,alarm systems, charging stations, etc.).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to illustrate the way in which the above mentioned advantagesand features of the embodiments can be obtained, a brief description ofthe components is provided in the appended drawings. It needs to beunderlined that the figures are not drawn to scale, and similarelements, in terms of function or shape, are indicated through referencenumerals; the drawings should be considered as illustrations of typicalembodiments without limiting of the scope.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automated system for controlling aplurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to anembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an unmanned ground aerial vehicle (UGAV)planner, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a planner that is subject to a supervisorfunction, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting a method of controlling a plurality ofUAVs, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alarm monitoring plan involving 3 UGAVs, over arectangular navigation model, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates the alarm monitoring plan of FIG. 5 over time.

FIG. 7 illustrates a front-end graphical interface to configure someaspects of a scheduling system, according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Small helicopters and multi-copters, including hybrid airplanes withvertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicles, are a fast expandingtechnology in the civil market. They are increasingly used in operationsthat would expose people to risk (e.g., in chemical plants, nuclearplants, etc.), activities carried out in highly inaccessible areas(e.g., viaducts, skyscrapers, furnaces, offshore rescue, etc.), andmonitoring procedures requiring a high degree of precision (e.g.,inspection of cracks in dams/bridges, airplane maintenance, oil tankkeels, etc.). In addition to industrial and governmental criticalinfrastructure applications, potential applications of VTOL vehicletechnology range from industrial (e.g., in plants, machineries, etc.) toenvironmental safeguarding (e.g., volcanoes, parks, coasts, etc.),including the protection of sensitive areas (e.g., archaeological sites,territorial borders, etc.).

Some operations, such as 24/7 video surveillance, alarm response,monitoring and inspections, can benefit from an automatic navigationsystem. Research systems for planning and scheduling of autonomousrobotic systems have been proposed, for example at internationalconferences such as the International Conference on Automated Planningand Scheduling (ICAPS) and the International Conference on AutonomousAgents and Multi-agent Systems (AAMAS). The terms “navigation,”“planning” and “scheduling,” as used herein, are defined according totheir common usage in the relevant art, for example, as typified byICAPS and AAMAS research.

Known autonomous navigation systems have relatively limitedfunctionality. While they may be able to perform simple operationsinvolving only one drone with a limited battery-time, they are typicallyunable to perform complex multi-drone operations continuously for anunlimited period of time. In addition, such systems may lack support forfunctionality such as: intelligent coordination of multiple UAVs at thesame time, continuous 24/7 operations, automatic precise landing,automatic recharging, robustness with respect to unpredictability of theoperations, and alarm integrations.

In addition, some UAVs may be equipped with a ground propulsion systemthat allows the UAV to translate and/or rotate on the ground, forinstance by means of wheels of various nature, and to take off, fly andland by means for instance of propellers or wings. Examples includemulti-copters equipped with an attached ground propulsion system, ormobile ground robots (e.g. mini-rovers) equipped with an attachmentproviding them wings and/or vertical take-off and landing propulsionmethods. UAV-attachable ground propulsion systems are described inInternational Patent Application No.: PCT/US16/26152, titled “GroundMovement System Plugin for Vertical Take Off and Landing Unmanned AerialVehicles,” filed on Apr. 6, 2016, the entire contents of which arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Such systemsconsider planning/scheduling operations between only flyingrobots/aircrafts/UAVs or ground robots as separate entities, which cancollaborate in some cases, but they are not designed to control robotsthat are capable both of flying and of actively moving on the ground.

As such, there is currently a need for systems and methods to directautonomous operations, on the ground and/or in the air, of swarms ofrobots (such as UAVs) that are air and ground-capable, in indoor and/oroutdoor environments, in a dynamic and reliable way, taking into accountthe options for the robots to automatically refuel their energy supply.

Embodiments described herein are related to a system for simultaneouslycontrolling and/or coordinating operations or activities of multipleUAVs (i.e., a “swarm” of UAVs) at the same time, that include pilotingunder control of software. Such systems are referred to herein as“planners” (e.g., a UAV planner). The operations can consist of movementon the ground or on air, collectively referred to as “navigation” (e.g.,at a particular time for a particular distance at a particular speed),as well as other operations such as data acquisition from an onboardsensor, communication with another UAV, use of actuators,take-off/landing, docking, monitoring a particular region of thenavigation model for a particular time in a particular way (e.g.,capturing landscape pictures of the area every 5 seconds, or continuousvideos of a particular spot), communicating some data with a chargingstation (also referred to herein as a “UAV station”), docking into aspecific UAV station, communicating via an external device, activatingspecific onboard sensors or equipment, activating specific actuators,taking-off vertically and reaching a specific altitude, landing in aspecific trajectory and speed, recharging for a given amount of time.Control includes navigation as well as other forms of UAV control.Systems described herein are useful for the planning of missions usingpre-computed and/or dynamic information, planning for guaranteedtime-continuance without service disruption over an operational periodthat would consume more than the energy available in a single UAV, andfor generating robust mission plans that can adapt to uncertainty andthe occurrence of faults. Planners described herein can achieveefficient spatial and temporal coordination of UAVs in swarms.

The problem of choice of the operation is referred to as “scheduling”,and the problem of considering scheduling together with navigation canbe referred to as “planning.” The planner can include software that isdirected by one or more deterministic automated planning and schedulingalgorithms, or interface to an optimization/artificialintelligence/heuristic software system, or can interface with anothersoftware operated partially by one or more human operators.

The flight of the UAVs can be controlled through some permanent orintermittent remote link/connection established by an onboard device(data transmission can be radio, wi-fi, cellular LTE or any other knownmobile communication technology, including relaying through satellite,or with focused electromagnetic beams etc.). Navigation and operationinstructions can be imparted commands such as application programinterfaces (APIs) released by drone vendors or direct instructions tothe autopilot of the UAV. Example APIs include those released by 3DRobotics, DJI or the MavLink protocol.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automated system 100 for controlling aplurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) 110A-110D, according to anembodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 includes a receiver 102,a processor 104 a transmitter 108 and a memory 106. The receiver isconfigured to receive signals from a plurality of UAVs (e.g., includingUGAVs) that collectively may form a “cluster.” In some embodiments, thereceiver is also configured to receive signals from one or more non-UAVlocations, such as external sensors (e.g., alarm systems) on the ground.UAV clusters can work together in a coordinated fashion to accomplishone or more tasks, such as an inspection of a large infrastructure or asurveillance operation of an extended region. Each UAV of the pluralityUAVs can have the capability to fly (e.g., with the aid of one or morewings and/or propellers) as well as to move along the ground/terrain(e.g., with the aid of tracks, wheels, etc.).

The signals received at the receiver 102 from the one or more UAVs caninclude telemetric data, such as: sensor data (e.g., collected by acorresponding UAV via one or more onboard sensors during flight and/orground travel), position data, battery/energy level data, video data,captured static images, point-cloud data from lasers, structured or rawdata processed by a onboard computer on the UAV, acceleration orvelocity data useful for odometry, and/or the like.

The memory 106 can be local to the system 100 and/or may comprisecloud-based storage. The memory 106 can include processor-readableinstructions to: substantially simultaneously determine a plurality ofnavigational and/or scheduling plans for each of the plurality of UAVs,for example based at least on a first telemetric data received from theplurality of UAVs, and to revise the plurality of navigational and/orscheduling plans (e.g., iteratively). Iteratively revising the pluralityof plans can be performed at predetermined time intervals (e.g., atpre-specified times of day) and/or can be based on a decision made by aconfigured software program. The memory can also store one or more maps(e.g., 2D and/or 3D terrain maps), meteorological weather data, GPScoordinate data, UAV navigational history data, historical orstatistical data relevant for the mission planning, information on thehardware performance for some UAV and sensors, information on thebehavior of different human or automated users authorized to configureor control the planning system, etc.

The receiver 102 is operably coupled to, and in communication with, oneor more processors 104 that are in communication with the memory 106(e.g., a cloud-based database, or a local volatile or non-volatilememory), for example to retrieve instructions therefrom and/or to storedata received from the one or more UAVs 110A-110D.

As discussed above, the processor 104 can be configured to retrieve dataand/or instructions from the memory 106, and to determine a plurality ofnavigational and/or scheduling plans for each of the plurality of UAVs.Determining the plurality of navigational and/or scheduling plans foreach of the plurality of UAVs can involve adherence to one or morepredetermined and/or actively changing plan constraints and objectivefunctions. The plurality of plans can include an instruction for atleast one of the UAVs of the plurality of UAVs to travel to a rechargingstation. Such an instruction can include the timing, location and/orduration of a recharging event.

The plan constraints can be deterministic rules that influence thedetermination of a plan. The rules, for example, may force UAVs torecharge on the nearest available UAV station before their batteries aredepleted. The rules can direct the UAVs to switch among themselves in a“relay mode” to perform an operation that lasts longer than the batterytime of a single UAV. An example of such a rule would be that at acertain battery level, say 20%, a UAV needs to interrupt what it isdoing in 30 seconds and reach a station within 2 minutes, while anotherUAV whose battery level is at least 80% and which can reach the point ofthe first UAV within 30 seconds needs to reach a position close to thefirst UAV in order to substitute it in its operation.

The plan constraints can represent the functioning of the UAVs andenforce relations between the movements or actions performed by the UAVsand the state of other variables defined in the system. For example, arule could determine that the battery level variable associated to anUAV needs to decrease of a certain amount depending on the nature andextent of a movement of the robot. Another rule determines the positionof the UAV on the navigation model over time, under specifiedconditions.

Plan constraints can take the form of probabilistic rules defined overintervals of time. For instance, a plan constraint could be that acertain area in the navigation model contains the presence of one UAVamong the available UAV at least 50% of the total time allocated for alloperations with the UAVs, during night hours.

Plan constraints can be formulated in a formal action language typicalof formal logic in mathematics computer science, robotics, or artificialintelligence, or a formalism designed to reasoning about dynamicalsituations. Examples include PDDL/STRIPS variants, TAEMS, Boolean SAT,Situation/Fluent Calculus languages such as GOLOG, Linear Temporal Logicformulas, etc.

The processor 104 is operably coupled to the transmitter 108, forexample to provide data to the transmitter 108 for wireless transmissionto one or more of the plurality of UAVs 110A-110D, as shown in FIG. 1.The data transmitted to the one or more UAVs via the transmitter 108 caninclude the plurality of navigational and/or scheduling plans. Theseplans can include control data such as ground navigation data, flightnavigation data, data acquisition data, communication data, take-offdata, landing data, docking data and recharging data.

A navigational plan can include one or more of the following: itineraryof positional destinations (e.g. in the form of expected time of arrivalat waypoints) for a specified period of time, change of value atprescribed times for all the status variables of the system, list ofvelocities and acceleration vectors for the prescribed trajectories,definition of the mean of navigation through the available propulsionmethods (air or ground), list of orientation in space of the UAV at anygiven time during the calculated trajectories, etc. In some embodiments,the navigational plans for each of the plurality of UAVs are coordinatedso as to at least one of: avoid collisions between UAVs of the pluralityof UAVs; avoid collisions between UAVs and other objects or regionsspecified on a geographical navigation model; avoid interaction of theUAVs with events specified on a temporal model; synchronize the plannedmovements of the UAVs and the activation of their sensors in order toguarantee continuance of data acquisition of a particular region orevent for an arbitrarily long amount of time; ensure that the navigationplans for the UAVs allows the data acquisition specified as objective ofthe plan; and ensure that each UAV of the plurality of UAVs maintains abattery charge that is above a predetermined level, which could bedifferent for each UAV. In some embodiments, the navigational plans canbe coordinated to ensure that predetermined number (e.g., at least one,not more than one, two, etc.) of UAVs are present in each of a set ofpredetermined geographic zones, for example as defined by the label ofthe zone in the navigation model (e.g. zones with high probability ofhuman presence).

A scheduling plan can include one or more of the following, in a timeresolved manner: one or more sensor activation instructions, one or moredata collection instructions, instructions that result in the movementof mechanical parts of devices such as doors, passages, conveyor belts,instructions of controlling the light or sounds emitted by externaldevices, instructions that make external device communicate or transmitover a wired or wireless channel, instructions to activate devices suchas anti-burglary systems (e.g. sprays, or smoke generators), etc. One ormore navigational and/or scheduling plans can be transmitted to the oneor more UAVs, and these navigational and/or scheduling plans can beidentical to one another, different from each of the others (e.g.,customized), or any combination.

The revision of the navigational and/or scheduling plans can be based onautomatic predetermined triggers, such as at predetermined timeintervals, or in response to one or more detected events (i.e., externaltriggers), such as the firing of an alarm, a change in weatherconditions, a change in air-traffic-control policies, input from a humanoperator, the detection of a nearby vehicle, input from an externalprogram that is modeling the happenings on the actionable environment,updated telemetric data received, via the receiver, from the pluralityof UAVs, or input from a user that is in communication with the system100. As used herein, a trigger is a data packet with a predeterminedinformation structure, meant to be detected and classified by theprocessor 104 (e.g., a UAV or UGAV planner, as described in detailbelow) to be representative of the event that generated the trigger.When instructed by the processor 104, the transmitter 108 can transmitthe plurality of navigational and/or scheduling plans to one or more ofthe plurality of UAVs 110A-110D simultaneously or substantiallysimultaneously. Also, the plurality of navigational and/or schedulingplans can be coordinated so as to run substantially concurrently (e.g.,by being defined by the processor to be run at overlapping or concurrenttime periods).

The updated telemetric data received from the plurality of UAVscomprises a UAV fault notification and/or trigger event data. Forexample, an anomaly can be a GPS link failure, or the battery status ofan UAV is not following the predicted models, or the movementtrajectories are different than the ones instructed. Alternatively or inaddition, the updated telemetric data can include one or more of:meteorological data, sensor data, position data, battery life data, etc.In some embodiments, one or more UAVs of the plurality of UAVs 110A-110Dis in wireless communication with another UAV of the plurality of UAVs110A-110D and transmits, for example, data including meteorologicaldata, sensor data, position data and/or battery life data to the otherUAV.

The receiver 102, processor 104, memory 106 and transmitter 108 areco-located within a common enclosure or device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an unmanned ground aerial vehicle (UGAV)planner 200, or planning system, according to an embodiment. FIG. 2represents a global description of how an embodiment of the system couldbe connected to the external word. Depending upon the embodiment, theUGAV planner 200 can be implemented in many forms of software, firmwareand hardware, as long as the actual software code or algorithms orcontrol hardware for the implementation is not limiting the uses andcapabilities of the UGAV planner 200 as described herein. In allimplementations set forth herein, the UGAV planner 200 generates a planthat will try to satisfy predetermined and/or actively changing planconstraints and objective functions using all resources available (e.g.,UAVs, UGAVs) and all relevant information available to represent thestatus of the system at the time of execution of the planningalgorithms. As shown in FIG. 2, the UGAV planner 200 can receive datafrom one or more alarm sensors 222 (e.g., on the ground/not airborne), ameteorological (weather) station via one or more weather sensors 224,and/or from an external trigger or stimulus, such as a button that canbe pressed by a human in a graphical user interface (GUI) control room226, or in any other user interaction (UI) system in a human-in-the-loopmode. In some embodiments, an external trigger can allow a humanoperator to take complete control of one or more UAV's navigation, forexample through a joystick. In some embodiments, the one or more weathersensors 224 provide environmental information to the UGAV planner 200via a data feed (e.g., including a geographical reference).

The UGAV planner 200 can receive data from one or more charging stations220, for example indicating whether or not a UAV is presently chargingthere, the status of their mechanical components, etc., as if they wereexternal sensors. The UGAV planner 200 can be wirelessly connected to,and receive telemetric data from, the UGAVs 210. In some embodiments,the UGAV Planner 200 may be informed of the telemetric status of all theUGAVs, without notice, or at a regular intervals of time.

Access of some or all information to the UGAV Planner 200 can be director mediated by a database or a third software.

The UGAV planner 200 can perform planning operations and generatenavigational and/or scheduling plans (subject to any plan constraints)to control several UAVs 210 (e.g., UGAVs) to which the UGAV planner 200is wirelessly connected, for example based on telemetry data receivedfrom the UAVs. Navigational and/or scheduling plans can be determinedfor a given interval of time (which may be finite, semi-infinite oropen-ended) that respects any plan constraints, and returns informationon the violation of the constraints, as well as information of planquality if soft constraints are present, given enough computationalresources and time to process on at least one processor. Methods todetermine the navigational and/or scheduling plans include known methodsin the domain of Planning and Scheduling and Combinatorial Optimization.Examples of computational techniques or solvers are: Branch and Bound,Dynamic Programming, Forward-Search, Heuristic searches, Trial anderrors, Greedy methods, SAT-based formulations, Markov DecisionProcesses such as POMDP methods, Mixed-Integer-Linear-Programmingsolvers such as CPLEX or Gurobi, Iterative methods, Genetic Algorithms,Monte-Carlo Tree searches and Random Walks, multi-level heuristictechniques, Ant Colony optimization methods, Simulated annealing,Master-Agent decomposition software architectures, Disjunctive graphsmethods, Benders Decompositions, Constraint Satisfaction Programmingmethods, Hierarchical Task Networks, Machine Learning Methods, includingUnsupervised and Supervised learning, reinforcement learning, DeepLearning Methods, non-digital methods such as the use of analog orneuromorphic computers, and electronic, biological or quantum computingdevices.

The UGAV planner 200 can be in communication with one or more databases(206A-206B) that store data relevant to the UGAV planning operations. Insome implementations, the UGAV planner 200 can access status data (e.g.,position data, weather data, speed/velocity data, battery life data,etc.) corresponding to one or more of the UAVs 210 through the one ormore databases 206A-206B. Alternatively or in addition, the UGAV planner200 can access geographical data through the one or more databases206A-206B.

The UGAV planner 200 may have access to geographical data for an areawhere UGAV operations take place, and may be in permanent orintermittent connection with the UGAVs through a telecommunicationslink. The connection to the UGAVs may be such that the planning systemcan control the navigation of the UGAVs and the data acquisition of thesensors mounted on the UGAV, for example by transmitting thenavigational and/or scheduling plans (e.g., including one or morescheduled recharging events) to the UGAVs 210.

The navigational and/or scheduling plans can include future positiondata for one or more of the plurality of UGAVs. The future position datacan specify precise locations for the one or more of the plurality ofUGAVs, or may specify ranges of position within which the one or more ofthe plurality of UGAVs are permitted to be at any given time.

Some embodiments, some plan constraints of the UAV planner can be thatunder certain conditions some of the UAV needs to be forbidden groundmovement operations, or flight operations, in all or some of theprescribed area of operation. More generally, any restriction on thepossible movement of the UAV can be formulated, even in a collectiveform. For example, it can be enforced that all the movements insidebuildings or all the paths that cross regions where it is likely to behuman presence needs to be performed on the ground.

The plan constraints can be configured during initialization of the UGAVplanner 200, or can be injected in the UGAV planner 200 at any time,e.g., automatically by a packaged module available to the UGAV planner200 and/or by a user through a graphical or command line User Interface.In some embodiments, the initialization or the update of the UGAVplanner 200 includes cryptographic authentication, such as the digitalsignature of a patch update or the insertion of a user password (e.g.,including multiple factor authentications).

In some embodiments, plan constraints can be defined as “softconstraints” or “objective functions,” which can serve as afigure-of-merit for the UGAV planner 200 to distinguish among multipledifferent plans based on quality. These functions' outputs can berepresented by a scalar, a vector or a tensor, or in general by anyn-tuple of real numbers, provided a distance metric to determine thelevel of optimality is also defined. For example, an objective functioncould be to minimize the total amount of energy consumed in the plan, orto maximize the number of concurrent operations with all the availableUAV.

In some embodiments, a plan generated by the UGAV planner 200 includesan instruction for a recharging station to increase the power of arecharging unit of a docked UAV. Another example is the opening of adoor allowing a UAV to enter a building, as discussed further below withreference to FIG. 5.

In one implementation of the UGAV planner 200, the automated planconstraints and objective functions are converted in a form to berepresented as a Boolean Satisfiability Problem. Alternatively, orconcurrently, the problem can be formulated as a variant ofjob-shop-scheduling, or an unconstrained Mixed-Integer Programmingproblem, linear or non-linear.

In some implementations of the UGAV planner 200, the generatednavigation plans can be modified by one or more obstacle avoidancealgorithms (e.g., algorithms based on Vector Field Histograms (VFH)) orcollision avoidance algorithms.

In some embodiments, a panner has absolute temporal information (e.g.,it can be synchronized with external sensors) and can access on demandthe following information within a specific time interval, given asinput: (A) the values of the variables representing the status of thesystem (e.g. the position of the UAVs and their battery sensor status);(B) some pre-defined rules or “plan constraints” that depend on (A) andalso on additional static conditions, such as the time and date of theday of operation, and the geographical information of the area where theoperation takes place; (C) some other plan constraints that depend on(A) and (B) and also on additional dynamic conditions, such as theoccurrence of the triggers by external sensors or human interaction.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a planner 300 (e.g., a UGAV planner) thatis subject to a supervisor function, according to an embodiment. Morespecifically, FIG. 3 shows a planner 300 that is encapsulated as amodule of a supervisor 330 (e.g., an artificial intelligence system).The planner 300 and/or the supervisor 330 can be implemented in manyforms of software, firmware and hardware, as long as the actual softwarecode or algorithms or control hardware for the implementation is notlimiting the uses and capabilities of the planner 300 and/or thesupervisor 330 as described herein. In all implementations set forthherein, the planner 300 and/or the supervisor 330 generates a plan thatwill try to satisfy predetermined and/or actively changing planconstraints and objective functions using all resources available (e.g.,UAVs, UGAVs) and all relevant information available to represent thestatus of the system at the time of execution of the planningalgorithms. As shown in FIG. 3, the supervisor 330 and/or the planner300 can receive data from one or more alarm sensors 322 (e.g., on theground/not airborne), a meteorological (weather) station via one or moreweather sensors 324, and/or from an external trigger or stimulus, suchas a button that can be pressed by a human in a GUI control room 326.The supervisor 330 and/or the planner 300 can also receive data from aplurality of UAVs 310 and/or a plurality of UAV recharging stations 320,and the planner 300 can be configured to wirelessly communicate with theplurality of UAVs 310 and/or the plurality of UAV recharging stations320. The supervisor 330 and/or the planner 300 can be in communicationwith one or more databases (306A-306B) that store data relevant toplanning operations. The planner 300 can perform planning operations andcreate navigational and/or scheduling plans to control several UAVs 210(e.g., UGAVs) to which the planner 300 is wirelessly connected. In someembodiments, the supervisor 330 can use the planner 300 to generateplans, schedules and/or actions for the plurality of UAVs 310 and one ormore recharging stations 320, and to update the databases 306A-306B,however unlike in FIG. 2, the supervisor 330 has control over when theplanner 300 is invoked (e.g., control over when the planner 300transmits the plans, schedules and/or action data to the UAVs 310). Inother embodiments, the planner 300 generates plans, schedules and/oractions for the plurality of UAVs 310 and one or more rechargingstations 320, and the supervisor 330 has control over when the planner300 is invoked (e.g., control over when the planner 300 transmits theplans, schedules and/or action data to the UAVs 310).

The supervisor 330 can query the planner 300 at regular intervals oftime (e.g., about 10 seconds) with parameters representing projectedmodels of reality based on the current status and/or on forecastingalgorithms. The supervisor 330 can have its own internal policiesregarding when and under what conditions execute a plan generated by theplanner 300.

In some embodiments, the supervisor 330 program has memory access (datastored in a database 306A, 306B) of all generated and executed plans bythe UAVs 310 and of the status variables over time, for example ascommunicated by the external sensors and by telemetry.

In some embodiments, the supervisor 330 program queries the planner 300when a certain threshold of difference between the status of at leastone of a UAV telemetry feed and a projected status predicted by the planin execution computed by the planner 300 is reached. For example, thesupervisor 330 could decide to “re-plan” when the integrated sum of theabsolute values of the differences between all trajectories of UAVs 310and their predicted model reaches a value of, for example, about 10square meters, or when the sum of the absolute value of the time-shiftswith respect to the predicted time of arrivals at specific waypoints issuperior to 10 seconds.

In some embodiments, the supervisor 330 program is entirely or partiallyunder the direction of a human operator, who determines or influenceswhen a plan is generated by the planner 300 and when it is executed bythe UAVs 310.

In one embodiment, the planner 300 is called to generate one or moreplans in order to perform photography and/or video recordings ofspecific geographic sectors within a certain amount of time elapsed fromthe receipt of a trigger event from an alarm 322 installed on anindustrial site. For example, the planner 300 could be called by ahuman-configured supervisor 330 to generate a plan lasting 15 minutes,with the objective of monitoring the sector were the alarm went off, aswell as the perimeter of several buildings of an industrial campus alongwith the main gates and access roads, with specific pre-definedprobabilities over the 15 minutes period. The planner may generate aplan that will try to satisfy the plan constraints and the objectivefunctions using all resources available (e.g., UAVs or UGAVs in a swarm)and all information available to represent the status of the system atthe time of execution of the planning algorithms.

In one embodiment, the planner 300 is called to generate one or moreplans in order to perform inspections of machinery at specific timesduring the day, or at the earliest available time after the scheduledoperation assuming that there are adverse atmospheric events affectingthe quality of the data capture. For example, in a hydroelectric powerplant, the planner 300 could be invoked at 11 am every day to inspectand map the status of a dam of height 100 m and width 600 m. The planner300, running planning algorithms subject to these plan constraintscould, for instance, generate plans that continuously use 8 UAVs inrelay mode, with 4 UAVs active at any given time, for an operationlasting approximately 6 hours.

In some embodiments, the planner 300 is called at pre-defined timesduring the day, and the actions suggested are directly executed by theUAVs and/or other devices controlled by the planner 300.

In other embodiments, the planning can be invoked to generate solutionsto other use cases. An example, non-exhaustive list of such use casesincludes: video surveillance of urban areas, intrusion detection at theinterior of warehouses, national border patrol, inspection of oil & gasfacilities, inspection of bridges, inspection of the exterior of powerplants, detection of fires or poaching in wilderness areas, detectingleakages over pipelines, harbor video surveillance and tracking ofcargo, monitoring the activity of a volcano, 3D mapping of aconstruction site, and video and/or photo documentation of an areasubject to a natural disaster, such as an earthquake.

In one implementation of the planner 300, a combination of open-sourceand proprietary solvers can be used to perform the planning. Forexample, an optimization software package such as IBM ILOG CPLEXOptimization Studio (CPLEX) could be used to solve the schedulingproblem, while a genetic algorithm among those published in the roboticsliterature could suggest a navigation plan for the multi-agent system.In some cases, the resulting plans can be concurrently run by thesupervisor 330 software on different solvers in order to havealternative solutions and choose to execute one according to a givenpolicy configuration.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting a method 440 of controlling a pluralityof UAVs (e.g., UGAVs), according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4,the method 440, which is compatible with the systems shown in FIGS. 1-3,includes reading the status variables (e.g., docking positions, waypointdata, labels associated with UAVs and their status (e.g., is it flyingor charging), descriptional labels, and/or the like) of UAVs, sensorsand/or other external controlled devices 441, followed by determining(e.g., via the processor 104 of FIG. 1 or the UGAV planner of FIG. 2) aplurality of navigational plans and/or scheduling plans for a pluralityof UAVs (442), e.g., based on the status variables. The plurality ofnavigational plans and/or scheduling plans is transmitted, at 444 (e.g.,via a transmitter) to the plurality of UAVs. An evaluation is performed,at 446, of whether or not an update condition has been met. Updateconditions can include the passage of a predetermined period of time,the detected movement of one or more of the plurality UAVs beyond apredetermined geographical window or volume, the receipt (e.g., at areceiver or at a processor) of an external trigger or stimulus, etc. Ifan update condition is not met, the method proceeds to 452, a “wait”period, and returns to evaluation 446 either autonomously (e.g., after apredetermined wait period), in response to one or more externaltriggers, or both. If it is determined that an update condition is metat 446, then the method proceeds to 448, where one or more revisednavigational plans and/or scheduling plans are determined. The one ormore revised navigational plans and/or scheduling plans are transmittedto one or more of the plurality of UAVs at 450. In some embodiments, thedetermination of revised navigational plans and/or scheduling plans at448 includes determining revised navigational plans and/or schedulingplans for all UAVs of the plurality of UAVs and, correspondingly, aplurality of revised navigational plans and/or scheduling plans aretransmitted—one to each of the plurality of UAVs. The method thenproceeds to wait, at 452, until a predetermined wait period has elapsed,or until one or more external triggers are received, before againevaluating whether a subsequent update condition has been met (at 446).

In some embodiments, the method of FIG. 4 further includes the use of a2D map and/or a 3D map as an input for a navigation model (e.g., togenerate the navigational plan at 442). Such maps may be representativeof the terrain and/or status of the region of operation. Alternativelyor in addition, the maps can include data on one or more chargingstations and/or data on an initial position of UAVs of the plurality ofUAVs at a point in time. The navigation model can be created by a humanoperator, or be a default model available, for example, from a libraryof models. The navigation model can include a reference to the locationof docking/landing/recharging stations (a “UAV Station”). UAV Stationscan comprise devices or locations on the ground (which may or not bemobile) where the UAVs can autonomously dock, either through landingdirectly on them or through entering them by means of a groundaccessible opening, in order to recharge/swap their batteries (or energysupply units, e.g., hydrogen fuel cells), be protected from the outsideenvironment, and/or update, upload or download the data stored in theircompanion computer system on board.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alarm monitoring plan involving 3 UGAVs, over arectangular navigation model, according to an embodiment. The alarmmonitoring plan, generated for example by a system similar to thosedescribed above with reference to FIGS. 1-3 and/or according to a methodsimilar to the method of FIG. 4, has a duration of 26 minutes, and hasan objective of continuously monitoring an alarm sector (defined, atleast in part, by the chart area) for at least 15 minutes (a plan“constraint”). In the alarm monitoring plan of FIG. 5, UGAV-1 was insector F4 at the beginning of the scheduled time, and was subsequentlysent to check an alarm in sector L3, which had just gone off and whichtriggered the generation of the plan. Then, the UGAV-1 was sent to astation in C9 to recharge. In order to dock into the station, the UAVflies to, and lands in, F8 and then moves along the ground to reach C9.Concurrently to all these actions, a second UGAV-2 is sent to move onthe ground from a station in Q9 where it was recharging towards a regionto monitor inside a building (Q3). This region to monitor could beoptional (and, for example, specified as a soft constraint). In order tofacilitate the robot's entry into the building, the planner (e.g.,similar to the processor 104 of FIG. 1, the UGAV planner of FIG. 2, orthe planner 300 of FIG. 3) coordinates the opening and closure of doorsin Q6. After a brief monitoring period, UGAV-2 is sent to the sector L3to replace the monitoring action of UGAV-1 which, as soon as UGAV-2arrives, leaves sector L3. After 3.5 minutes, UGAV-2 leaves the sector,taking off and flying to sector N9, where it lands and it moves to dockinto the recharging station in Q9 where it was hosted 21 minutesearlier. During all these operations, a UGAV-3 in C2 is recharging. FIG.6 illustrates the alarm monitoring plan of FIG. 5 from a temporalprofile point of view, through a Gantt chart. For each action describedin the alarm monitoring plan, a corresponding task bar is drawn anddefined. Tasks that are vertically aligned are executed synchronously.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a graphical interface allowing ahuman operator to configure the planning system and/or the supervisorsoftware. Form 701 is a form via which an operator can set up a timeduration in minutes of a specific plan called “Fire Alarm” that is forexample being called when a trigger of a fire alarm sensor goes off. Inthe form boxes, the user can specify the importance of each specificsector (to be defined on a navigation model) to be set as a parameter ofplan constraints. At 702, a “Sector 1 patrol” plan is configured, in abox, for example to be starting each day at 6:00 AM and to last until12:30 PM. An “All sectors patrol” plan for the scheduling of a patroloperation of all sectors in the map is shown at 703. A button 704 isincluded to submit the values of the form boxes to theplanner/supervisor that is now configured.

Although the disclosed subject matter has been described and illustratedin the foregoing exemplary embodiments, it is understood that thepresent disclosure has been made only by way of example, and thatnumerous changes in the details of implementation of the disclosedsubject matter may be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the disclosed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. An automated system for controlling a pluralityof unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), comprising: a plurality of unmannedaerial vehicles (UAVs); a receiver for receiving first telemetric datafrom said plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); a transmitterfor transmitting control data to said plurality of unmanned aerialvehicles (UAVs); at least one processor in communication with a memorywhich has stored therein processor-issuable instructions; and a plannerfor substantially simultaneously determining a plurality of plans foreach one of said plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for apredetermined time period based at least upon said first telemetric datareceived from said plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and foriteratively revising said telemetric data and said plurality of plansinto updated telemetric data and plans for each one of said plurality ofunmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and for transmitting both navigationaland scheduling program data to said plurality of unmanned aerialvehicles (UAVs) such that said plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs) can not only be controlled navigationally but can also becontrolled in accordance with a scheduled program, including periodicmovements to at least one recharging station, whereby individual ones ofsaid plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles can assist each other incombination in order to accomplish a predetermined task, as well as torelieve each other as necessary in accordance with a continuouslycontrolled unmanned aerial vehicle operational program.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein: said at least one of said first telemetric data andsaid updated telemetric data includes positional data.
 3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein: said at least one of said first telemetric data andsaid updated telemetric data includes battery charge data.
 4. The systemof claim 1, wherein: said plurality of iteratively revised plans isbased upon updated telemetric data received, via said receiver, fromsaid plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
 5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein: wherein at least one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ofsaid plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is an unmanned groundaerial vehicle (UGAV) comprising wheels for ground movement.
 6. Thesystem of claim 5, wherein: said control data, transmitted to at leastone unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of said plurality of unmanned aerialvehicles (UAVs), comprises flight navigation data and ground navigationdata.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein: said plurality of unmannedaerial vehicles (UAVs) include a plurality of environmental sensors forsensing various environmental conditions; said plans for each one ofsaid plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are coordinated so asto satisfy at least one of the following scenarios: avoid collisionsbetween said plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); avoidcollisions between said plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) andother objects or regions specified upon a geographical navigation model;avoid interaction of said plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)with events specified on a temporal model; synchronize planned movementsof said plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in accordance withenvironmental conditions detected by said sensors in order to guaranteethe continuance of data acquisition of a particular region or event foran arbitrarily long amount of time; ensure that said plans for saidplurality of unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs allows for said dataacquisition as specified as an objective of said plan; and ensure thateach one of said plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) maintainsa battery charge that is above a predetermined level, which could bedifferent for each unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
 8. The system of claim1, wherein: said plans are coordinated to ensure that at least apredefined number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is present in eachof a predetermined plurality of geographical zones.
 9. The system ofclaim 1, wherein: said plans are coordinated to ensure that no more thana predefined number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is present ineach one of a predetermined plurality of geographical zones.
 10. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein: said updated telemetric data received fromsaid plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) comprises an unmannedaerial vehicle (UAV) fault notification.
 11. The system of claim 1,wherein: at least one of said first telemetric data and said updatedtelemetric data comprises meteorological data.
 12. The system of claim1, wherein: said updated telemetric data comprises trigger event data.13. The system of claim 1, wherein: said control data transmitted tosaid plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles comprises at least one of:ground navigation data, flight navigation data, data acquisition data,communication data, take-off data, landing data, docking data, andrecharging data.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein: said plurality ofplans are coordinated so as to run substantially concurrently.
 15. Thesystem as set forth in claim 1, wherein: said plurality of plans includean instruction for at least one of said plurality of unmanned aerialvehicles (UAVs) to travel to a recharging station.
 16. A method ofcontrolling a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), comprisingthe steps of: determining a plurality of plans for each one of saidplurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) based at least upon firsttelemetric data received from said plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs); subsequently iteratively revising said telemetric data and saidplurality of plans; and transmitting both navigational and schedulingprogram data to said plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) suchthat said plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can not only becontrolled navigationally but can also be controlled in accordance witha scheduled program, including periodic movements to at least onerecharging station, whereby individual ones of said plurality ofunmanned aerial vehicles can assist each other in combination in orderto accomplish a predetermined task, as well as to relieve each other asnecessary in accordance with a continuously controlled unmanned aerialvehicle operational program.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein:determining said plurality of plans for said plurality of unmannedaerial vehicles (UAVs) comprises determining all of said plans thereofsubstantially simultaneously.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein:iteratively revising said plurality of plans is based upon second,updated, telemetric data received from the plurality of unmanned aerialvehicles (UAVs).
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein: iterativelyrevising said plurality of plans is performed at predeterminedly timedintervals.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein: iteratively revisingsaid plurality of plans is based upon a decision made by apredeterminedly configured software program.
 21. The method of claim 16,wherein: configuring at least one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of saidplurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as an unmanned groundaerial vehicle (UGAV) comprising wheels for ground movement.
 22. Themethod of claim 16, wherein: said plurality of plans includes aninstruction for at least one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of saidplurality of f unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to travel to a rechargingstation.